{"id":1041,"date":"2024-08-12T00:08:51","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T00:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/serverhost.com\/blog\/thunderbird-130-beta-update-introducing-a-new-tray-icon-feature-for-linux-users\/"},"modified":"2025-02-11T06:54:11","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T06:54:11","slug":"thunderbird-130-beta-update-introducing-a-new-tray-icon-feature-for-linux-users","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/serverhost.com\/blog\/thunderbird-130-beta-update-introducing-a-new-tray-icon-feature-for-linux-users\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunderbird 130 Beta Update: Introducing a New Tray Icon Feature for Linux Users"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first Thunderbird 130 beta release is out, and when running it on Linux there\u2019s a very obvious new feature: a tray icon!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In the Thunderbird 130 beta release notes<\/a> the ‘what’s new’ section highlights \u201cadded Linux system tray icon\u201d, and the astonishing part about this update is that it fulfills a feature request initially filed on the Mozilla bug tracker<\/a> a remarkable 25 years ago<\/em>!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Tray icons might seem a bit dated, but they are still helpful on systems that do not manage background applications in a straightforward or familiar way. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Thunderbird<\/em> on Windows includes a system tray icon\/applet, but, as far as I know, this email client hasn’t previously included one on Linux or macOS systems.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Over the years Linux users have utilized various solutions, including Thunderbird<\/em> add-ons and third-party applications, scripts, or extensions that leverage APIs to have an effective Thunderbird<\/em> system tray menu. One example from the past is Birdtray<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

However, the landscape is evolving.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

There is an ongoing initiative<\/a> by Thunderbird<\/em> developers to enhance the email client’s integration with Linux desktops. This includes introducing a system tray icon per the StatusNotifierItem specification<\/a>, and improving support for native notifications.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The initial Thunderbird<\/em> 130 beta is now available for download<\/a>. It features a new tray icon which is quite basic at this stage. This beta is the first in a series of approximately 5 or 6, and the tray icon has only recently been implemented, so it is still under development and not fully operational.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Thunderbird 130 beta 1 has a native tray icon<\/a><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Minimise to tray, and some kind of \u2018new message\u2019 indicator (beyond notifications or a dock emblem in Ubuntu) are planned. I expect a GUI toggle to turn the icon off will be introduced to placate those who don\u2019t want\/need a tray icon for Thunderbird.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

I\u2019d also expect the literal tray icon to be finessed in time. In Beta 1 it\u2019s a full-colour icon (and looks oversized in Linux Mint\u2019s Cinnamon desktop), but most major Linux distributions and desktop environments prefer symbolic or desaturated tray icons.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

WIP: New tray icon renders as white square in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS<\/a><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

So anyone planning on downloading the beta on the basis it has gained a tray icon MUST<\/strong> keep all of that in mind. The way this feature looks and behaves in Thunderbird 130 Beta 1 is not<\/em> indicative of how it may work\/look by time it arrives in a future stable ESR release.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Also, keep in mind that beta releases of anything<\/em> in general are not recommended for mission-critical workloads, will contain bugs, show rough edges, offer incomplete features, performance quirks, and so on \u2014 use them with that understanding.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n

The tray ions feature in Thunderbird 130 beta is a work in progress. It is not (at the time of writing this) complete, finished, or finalised. You can track development and new functionality in future planned Thunderbird beta updates.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Thanks Sambot<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Which I hope will include action buttons in GNOME Shell notifications, e.g., ‘mark as read’<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The first Thunderbird 130 beta release is out, and when running it on Linux there\u2019s a very obvious new feature: a tray icon! In the Thunderbird 130 beta release notes the ‘what’s new’ section highlights \u201cadded Linux system tray icon\u201d, and the astonishing part about this update is that it fulfills a feature request initially […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,527,4,563],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-app-updates","category-beta","category-news","category-thunderbird"],"yoast_head":"\nThunderbird 130 Beta: New Tray Icon for Linux serverhost<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thunderbird 130 Beta update brings a new tray icon feature for Linux users, offering better system integration and smoother email client performance on Linux desktops.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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